Ancient Mesopotamia 3300-331 B.C.E.: Family and Social Trends Research Article from World Eras

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Middle Assyrian Law identified which women must and must not be veiled. A married woman had to be veiled in public, but slave women and prostitutes were strictly forbidden from this practice. The penalty for a prostitute caught wearing a veil was severe:

Whoever sees a prostitute veiled shall seize her, he shall secure witnesses, and bring her before the entrance of the palace. They shall not take her jewelry, but the one who seized her shall take her clothing. Fifty strokes he shall beat her and they shall pour liquid pitch on her. . . . (MAL A §40)

The law further stipulated that a man who sees a prostitute or slave woman wearing a veil and does not detain her shall receive the same punishment, and the person who reports him to authorities shall be given his clothing as...